According to the WHO, this is needed to achieve the globally agreed goals, adding that in 2016, the World Health Assembly (WHA) endorsed viral hepatitis elimination goals as set by the WHO.

WHO defined a global reduction of 90 per cent in incidents of the disease and 65 per cent in mortality from hepatitis B and hepatitis C by 2030.

“Viral hepatitis B and C affect 325 million people around the world. Left untreated, these infections lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis, which together caused more than 1.3 million deaths in 2015 alone,” it said in a statement.

“Worldwide, less than 20 per cent of people had access to testing and treatment services for hepatitis B and C infections at the end of 2016.”

John Andah is a fine-grained journalist. He has been a member of the fourth estate for nearly a decade. He loves the smell of a good lead, and has a penchant for finding out something nobody else knows. John is Snr Asst Editor at Concise News.